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Comment Well intentioned BS (Score 1) 119

by tjanke (#56971624) Attached to: Frequent Smart Phone, Internet Use Linked To Symptoms Of ADHD in Teens
The study, while well-intentioned, is largely BS. I have ADHD. If this study were to be believed, you'd have to also believe that there is no one with ADHD over the age of 30. I was born in 1961; during my childhood the only electronic device in the house was a black-and-white tv that got three channels and used vacuum tubes, and outside of saturday morning cartoons and the evening news, we watched very little.

The proximate cause of ADHD is, in fact, the inability of neurons in certain regions of the brain to produce enough dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter. It is a *biochemical* abnormality and it is, by definition, present before the age of 7. It doesn't just show up at 12 or 13. It's not caused by bad parenting, or eating too much sugar, or the over-use of electronic devices.

The authors of the study, while well intentioned I'm sure, simply don't understand what ADHD is. It's not simple inattentiveness, or just being easily distracted. While the symptoms they describe (and ascribe to over-use of electronics) may mimic those of ADHD, it simply is *not* the same thing at all.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Is the World Better or Worse Because of Security Tech?

Submitted by krisdickie
krisdickie writes: Being a developer for embedded devices, App software, and many other types of systems, I try and be proactive with security measures in the systems, be it from preventing rooting, symmetric key encryption communications, etc. This is obviously important, and I don't necessarily see it as a distraction, but rather a complex problem that has some added thrill to being solved. I can't help but wonder though if I (and my team) would have been X times more productive or have come with some amazing new concept or feature, if we didn't have to deal with implementing security measures.

In a utopian world, where there are no bad actors, we would have likely forfeit many of the systems and ideas that have been put into place to prevent bad things from happening. So my question is — are we more technically advanced because of the thoughtfulness that has gone into creating these systems, or are we just losing precious resources and time dealing with the necessity of protecting ourselves from the perilous few?

Submission + - NSA Collected 500 Million US Call Records In 2017, Says Report (reuters.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The U.S. National Security Agency collected more than 500 million phone call records of Americans last year, more than triple gathered in 2016, a U.S. intelligence agency report released on Friday said. The sharp increase to 534 million call records from 151 million occurred during the second full year of a new surveillance system established at the spy agency after U.S. lawmakers passed a law in 2015 that sought to limit its ability to collect such records in bulk. The reason for the spike was not immediately clear. The metadata records collected by the NSA include the numbers and time of a call, but not its content.

Submission + - NASA Successfully Tests New Nuclear Reactor For Future Space Travelers (npr.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy say they have successfully tested a new type of nuclear reactor that could one day provide juice to colonies on other worlds. The reactor can power several homes and appears able to operate in harsh environments. The new reactor uses more-conventional uranium fuel. Using a "core" about the size of a paper towel roll, the reactor can turn pistons that can run a generator. The generator can put out about 10 kilowatts of electrical power — enough to run a few small homes. Scientists believe it could run continuously for a decade or so, making deep space travel a lot simpler. They also gave it a catchy acronym: KRUSTY, which stands for Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling TechnologY.

To see if it actually worked, scientists tested KRUSTY out in the Nevada desert on America's old nuclear test range. They put KRUSTY through its paces, culminating in a 28-hour test at full power. The team also simulated failures in KRUSTY's reactor components to show it wouldn't result in a meltdown on Mars. KRUSTY may find its way onto future space probes. Researchers say they might use an ensemble of four or five of the reactors to power colonies on the moon (which has 14-day nights, when the sun isn't available) or Mars.

Submission + - New graphene concrete is two times stronger (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Paige.Bennett
Paige.Bennett writes: In a recent study, University of Exeter’s Center for Graphene Science used nanoengineering technology to add graphene to concrete production. The resulting graphene concrete is two times stronger than traditional concrete and four times as water resistant, but with a much smaller carbon footprint compared to the conventional process of making concrete. According to the university, the addition of graphene cuts back on the amount of materials needed in concrete production by nearly 50 percent and reduces carbon emissions by 446 kg per ton.

Submission + - You Can't Opt Out Of Sharing Your Data, Even If You Didn't Opt In (fivethirtyeight.com)

Submitted by Mr_Blank
Mr_Blank writes: Increasingly, though, individuals need to worry about another kind of privacy violation. I think of it as a modern tweak on the tragedy of the commons — call it “privacy of the commons.” It’s what happens when one person’s voluntary disclosure of personal information exposes the personal information of others who had no say in the matter. Your choices didn’t cause the breach. Your choices can’t prevent it, either. Welcome to a world where you can’t opt out of sharing, even if you didn’t opt in.

Submission + - The World Video Game Hall of Fame 2018 Inductees

Submitted by Dave Knott
Dave Knott writes: The 2018 World Video Game Hall of Fame inductees have been announced. The Hall Of Fame "recognizes individual electronic games of all types — arcade, console, computer, handheld, and mobile — that have enjoyed popularity over a sustained period and have exerted influence on the video game industry or on popular culture and society in general." The 2018 inductees are: Final Fantasy 7, John Madden Football, Spacewar!, and the first Tomb Raider.

Comment Re:Excluding the unfortunate exceptions (Score 1) 507

by tjanke (#54422611) Attached to: 'Don't Tell People To Turn Off Windows Update, Just Don't'
Not even a production environment.

Awhile back, windows update nearly bricked my computer. The new driver for the Southbridge chip was corrupt, and suddenly the mouse stopped working. The keyboard and everything else still worked, so I was able to limp along. It took me nearly two weeks to diagnose the problem and then find and install the right driver. Two very long, very, very frustrating weeks.

Since then I've never let windows automatically install anything. I always review the updates, and choose which ones to install and which not. As you can imagine, the recent move to monolithic updates is really pissing me off.

Comment Video of a drone strike on a commercial airliner (Score 1) 52

by tjanke (#53930677) Attached to: FAA Warns More Drones Are Flying Near Airports
The FAA must be referring only to incidents in the U.S. Here's a video of a drone striking the winglet of a commercial airliner, and I can only assume it happened outside the U.S.; I don't recognize the city in the background.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

It's the first clip, the strike happens at about 30s. Scary.

Comment Re:Easy grammar (Score 1) 626

The problem is that English, a true bastard of a language in every sense of the word ...

I agree with you that written English is fucked up. But it is precisely that bastard nature that makes spoken English among the richest, most flexible and most expressive of languages. Nouns can be verbs can be adjectives, which give enormous flexibility to the speaker to make themselves understood; you can use existing words in new ways, even coin new ones (a great many the words we think of as standard English today were coined by Shakespeare). We have so many synonyms, with overlapping, subtle differences of meaning, you can find just - exactly - the right one to express what you're thinking. A Bulgarian comp sci professor of mine spoke 4 languages fluently: English, German, Russian, and of course Bulgarian. I asked him which was his favorite. "English", he replied, without hesitation. "Anything you can think of, any idea you wish to express, you can find a way to say it in English. That's not true of most other languages."

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